Synthesis and characterization of guest-host azo dyes with broad absorption bands

Abstract

Three groups of dyes were synthesized and characterized in order to examine their solubility, absorption spectrum, and order parameter in liquid crystal hosts. Our synthesis method allowed the formation of the diazonium salts and the diazo coupling in ethyl acetate instead of an aqueous medium, permitting the formation of long and neutral azo dyes. In the liquid crystal BDH-E7, they showed order parameters in the range of 0.52 to 0.76. The two dyes with the longest molecular lengths were particularly interesting due to their very broad absorption spectra in the visible region. Each of these two compounds behave as single component black dye guest/host systems, which generally require a mixture of two or three dyes in the liquid crystal host. These dyes were also evaluated for use in polymer dispersed liquid crystal films.